New York, NY, April 26, 2010 – Two of “The Ultimate Fighter’s”® most celebrated alumni will finally meet inside the Octagon® in the live finale of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz” on Saturday, June 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT. Emanating from The Pearl at The Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, the “Dean of Mean,” Keith Jardine (Season 2) takes on Matt “The Hammer” Hamill (season 3) in a matchup pitting Jardine’s unorthodox striking against Hamill’s powerhouse wrestling. The winner will move further up the ranks in the UFC’s ultra-competitive light heavyweight division, with the loser taking a tremendous step back in his pursuit of a title shot.

Hamill (9-2), fighting out of Utica, NY, has won three of his last four UFC bouts including a recent controversial victory over the previously undefeated Jon Jones last December. During their matchup, Jones was dominating Hamill in the first round when he was cited twice for illegal elbows to the head. When Hamill couldn’t continue due to an extreme laceration on his forehead, Jones was disqualified. Prior to that bout, Hamill bounced back from a loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 88 with wins over Mark Munoz at UFC 96 in March 2009 via knockout, and Reese Andy at UFC 92 in December 2008 via TKO.

Jardine (14-8-1), a protégé of legendary trainer Greg Jackson, fights out of Albuquerque, NM. Dubbed “The Dean of Mean,” the 34 year-old veteran has an impressive list of victories on his resume, including wins over Chuck Liddell at UFC 76, Forrest Griffin at UFC 66, and Brandon Vera at UFC 89. Those wins were countered by three consecutive losses heading into his bout with Hamill. A victory will put him back on the winning path towards a shot at the coveted light heavyweight belt.
Other bouts on the card will be announced at a later date, including “The Ultimate Fighter” finalists.

Posted by lvollmer on Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 1:05 pm | | | Comments Off on Hamill and Jardine will main event TUF 11 finale

Following up on my previous post, BJ Penn posted a video a little while ago on his website regarding his loss to new UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar over the weekend. While he says a rematch with Edgar is still tentative, it seems like this fight is likely to take place.

According to a radio interview conducted with BJ Penn today, the UFC might be working on a rematch between new UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and former UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn. Edgar defeated Penn this past Saturday by unanimous decision to capture the title.

“The UFC contacted us yesterday, and I think they want to put a rematch together, so I think a rematch is in the works,” Penn said Tuesday morning in an interview with 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C.

When asked when the match might take place, Penn hinted that it could be in the next 3-4 months.

“I think the next three months, four months at the most,” said Penn .

There is a lot of disdain in the MMA community regarding the decision win over Penn. Many feel that BJ did enough to win the fight and retain his title. There is an old adage in MMA that says in order to beat the champ, you have to BEAT the champ. While Frankie and his camp put together a solid and effective game plan, many feel he was not dominant enough to beat the champ.

This story should develop further and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Frankie Edgar of USA celebrates after winning the match against BJ Penn of Hawaii after their Lightweight fight at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 112 event at the Ferrari World theme park on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, April 10, 2010. (AP Photo)

Posted by lvollmer on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at 10:20 am | | | Comments Off on Penn/Edgar 2 might be in the works

(Las Vegas, NV, April 8 2010)—Celebrity athlete and UFC sports legend Chuck Liddell will be immortalized in wax May 29 at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas .
The 40 year-old athlete will be the first mixed martial arts athlete to be inducted into the famed collection, located in front of the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino.

The Liddell figure will be officially unveiled Friday, May 28 at 10:30am PT in front of thousands of fans gathered at the UFC Fan Expo taking place May 28-29 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The Liddell figure will then be moved to Madame Tussauds Las Vegas and placed on display inside a UFC Octagon, along with Liddell’s trunks and UFC championship belt.

Since taking up martial arts at the age of 12, Liddell has transformed himself into a superstar athlete.

He’s famous for his seven fight win streak in which he was pitted against Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, among other popular UFC stars.

Liddell has been a part of UFC for over a decade and his star power has helped make it the world’s fastest growing sports organization.

Along the way, Liddell has appeared on numerous magazine covers including ESPN Magazine and has also made guest appearances on HBO’s “Entourage.”

In 2009, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in recognition of his status as MMA’s biggest star and the 6-foot plus athlete is said to have the most feared right hand in the sport.
Since it opened a decade ago, as one of the first locations outside of London, Madame Tussauds Las Vegas has entertained nearly five million visitors and in recent years has scored record attendance, including number of visitors to date in 2009.

Over 100 world-famous figures, each costing an average of $300,000 to create, are featured at the attraction at one time, in various themed areas, and to keep the offerings “fresh” the attraction’s designers regularly spotlight new and exciting exhibits, such as the latest additions of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears wax figures, which made their debuts at other Madame Tussauds worldwide locations but are brand new to the Las Vegas attraction.

Among its recent debut figures in Las Vegas were Snoop Dogg, Kathy Griffin and Pres. Barack Obama and the “Oval Office Experience.”

Web programmer by day, practicing mixed martial artist at night, Larry Vollmer Jr. brings the latest news from the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the rest of the mixed martial arts world - a fast-spreading obsession on TV and online. These are the bouts - they occur in an octagon-shaped "ring" - that test men's souls.